The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a method for minimizing tracking system interference.
Atrial fibrillation is characterized by very rapid uncoordinated electrical signals in the atria of the heart resulting in a rapid and irregular heart-beat. Atrial fibrillation can significantly impact a patient's quality of life producing symptoms such as shortness of breath, weakness, difficulty exercising, sweating, dizziness, and fainting. In some patients, atrial fibrillation can be associated with increased risk of stroke, heart failure, or heart muscle disease. It is known to treat atrial fibrillation using a process referred to as cardiac ablation wherein a small section of heart tissue is killed or otherwise rendered inactive thereby breaking the electrical pathways causing the fibrillation.
The performance of interventional procedures such as cardiac ablation can be facilitated by systems adapted to visualize cardiac anatomy in real-time. Exemplary real-time visualization systems include intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) systems incorporating a rotatable transducer array driven by an ICE motor and disposed within an ICE catheter. One problem with the implementation of an ICE system for the performance of interventional procedures is that electromagnetic (EM) tracking systems implemented to track the ICE catheter and/or other interventional devices may be rendered imprecise by interference from the ICE motor.